I'm in a potential limbo state here because:
- I am on a notice period for impending layoffs later in the month
- I found a new job, did all the documentation crap and my new company filed already. Hopefully, I'll get a decision in 2 weeks
- If not (say I get an RFE or get denied for the transfer), I lose my status because I couldn't transfer to the new company && my old company will lay me off, rendering my old h1b invalid
- In an RFE or denial, I will have to look for a job again in 60 days. For that h1b, it'll take them 7 months to tell me if it is approved or not. I can start working for the new company while this processing is going on though
- Say, I get laid off in those 7 months again. What does that mean for my status? Can I legally change to a new H1b with another company?
- Say, they come after 7 months and tell me it wasn't approved, does that mean I was working illegally so far?
This ambiguous and random pile of regulation over regulation sometimes makes me think, hey, it's better to just get out of this place and live somewhere else in peace. For all their talks of supporting legal immigration, US immigration process is incredibly slow, hinges on random pieces of paper and doesn't factor in that an individual can have life changing circumstances in this long duration. Life changing circumstances include marriages, family issues, health issues, lay offs etc.
The only way an individual can navigate this PROLONGED bureaucracy is if they have no dependents, no family issues, no health issues, no girlfriends/boyfriends/wives/husbands...so that they can keep fighting random nonsensical regulations, RFEs and denials.
Sigh!